Sarkozy firming as comeback candidate

Henry Samuel

PARIS: Nicolas Sarkozy intends to run to become president of France again in four years' time, his former foreign minister has claimed.

Mr Sarkozy has kept a low profile since his defeat last May to his Socialist rival, Francois Hollande, after one five-year term. But Alain Juppe, one of the French Right's most senior figures, predicted Mr Sarkozy would be back to campaign again in 2017.

Alain Juppe ... the former foreign minister has thrown the cat among the pigeons. Photo: AFP

The former president has embarked on an international conference career similar to that of Tony Blair, spends more time with his family, is learning English intensively and reportedly nurtures plans to create an "ethical" investment fund, possibly based in London.

Mr Sarkozy's UMP party has been left in disarray by a vicious and inconclusive succession battle and the struggles of the French economy.

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Mr Juppe's assertion was dismissed swiftly by some on the Right. "So Alain Juppe's the weather lady now?" said Luc Chatel, a former minister. "I think that Alain Juppe is clearly hearing voices," said Patrick Balkany, a close friend.

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Mr Sarkozy pledged to become a "Frenchman among Frenchmen" after losing the election last year. On Wednesday a spokesman said: "[He] has withdrawn from political life. His state of mind is the same as it was eight months ago."

Political observers said his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, dropped a clear hint as to her husband's intentions this week. The singer was quoted by the Atlantico website as saying: "For my part I have no desire for him to dive back into that world. We are very happy with our new life."

But she added: "Hollande is terrible, and we're going to be stuck with him for the next 10 years. Because in five years, Marine Le Pen [the far-right leader] will be up against him and naturally, he will win."

The outcome could be different if her husband intervened, she claimed. "Nicolas could spare France this awful duel."

Last October, another former minister, Bruno Le Maire, quoted Mr Sarkozy as saying: "The question is not knowing whether I'm going to make a comeback, but if morally I have the choice regarding France to not come back."

Nicolas could spare France this awful duel.

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

On Wednesday Le Figaro reported that Mr Sarkozy had warned political friends that the French economy was "heading for catastrophe" and that Mr Hollande had "seriously underestimated the exasperation of the country".

He bemoaned France's loss of international clout, and was appalled at accounts that his successor was frozen out of late-night talks between the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, over the European budget. "I cannot leave France like this," he is reported to have said.

Mr Hollande was yesterday said to be "convinced" that Mr Sarkozy would seek revenge in 2017. "Hollande is right to believe this," a government minister told Le Parisien. "There is a leadership crisis on the right, Sarko mobilised his electorate and successfully handled his political exit. And if you want my opinion, he's bored to death."

A recent poll placed Mr Sarkozy in fourth place among France's most popular politicians and a majority of right-wingers would welcome his return.

But observers said Mr Juppe's assertion would not have been well-received in the Sarkozy camp, as it went against his plan to remain "with a snorkel under the water" until after local and European elections in the middle of next year, when the UMP risks losing ground to the far-right.

Mr Sarkozy is reported to have told one MP recently: "I will only run if no other natural candidate imposes himself. And there won't be one."